Safety device for use in window cleaning and other exposed positions



P. J. GILL. SAFETY DEVICE FOR USE IN WINDOW CLEANING AND OTHER EXPOSEDPOSITIONS. APPLICATION FILED APR.3, 1-920.

1,4099702. Patented Mar. 14, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PERCY JOHN GILL, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR USE IN WINDOW CLEANING AND OTHER EXPOSED POSITIONS.

Application filed April 3,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PERCY JOHN GILL, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster and Kingdomof England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SafetyDevices for Use in lVindow Cleaning and other Exposed Positions, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to safety devices for catching fallingworkmen, such as window cleaners, house painters, steeplejacks, shipspainters and cleaners, warehousemen and others. The device is of thetype which comprises a safety belt which is passed round and firmlysecured to the workmans body, and a rope one end of which is secured tothe said belt while the other end is fastened to a fixed object, so thatif a workman wearing this appliance should slip, while engaged in hishazardous task, his fall will be instantly arrested and his life saved.v

The improvements which constitute the presentinvention will beunderstood from the following description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a general view of myimproved safety device applied to a workman,

Figure 2 is an elevation of a portion of a building showing the safetydevice in use by a window cleaner.

Referring tothe drawings, 1 is the safety belt whose length is somewhatless than the girth of the wearers body so that when worn the ends donot quite meet. It is made wide so as to extend from above the waist tobeneath the arm pits, and the two ends 2 of the belt are folded over andsewn to the belt at 3 so as to reinforce or strengthen the belt at theends and produce a double thickness of material thereat. The belt at thetwo folded over ends is eyeletted, that is to say, holes are punched inthe said ends 2, and a short metallic tube or eyelet 4; is passedthrough each hole and flanged over against the surfaces of the belt, andthrough these eyelets 4, one end of a rope 5 is passed, the saidmetallic eyelets 4 preventing any tearing by the rope of the fabric ormaterial of which the belt is made. Two shoulder straps 6 are appliedand firmly secured to the belt by stitching, rivets, buckles or othersuitable means, these two straps 6 passing from the front of the belt tothe rear thereof. The

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14, 1922. 1920. Serial no. 371,009.

so that when a pulling strain is applied to the rope, such noose willdraw the ends of the belt closer together and so tighten the belt aroundthe workmans body as will be understood by reference to the drawing,while when 'the pulling strain is relaxed, the tightness of the beltround the body will be slackened and enable the ends of the belt tospread themselves further apart.

The upper end of the rope 6 has a spliced eye 8 formed by passing itround a metallic dead eye, and to this is coupled a snap hook 9 or anyother suitable hook or fastening device for attachment to a fixedsupport. This fixed support may consist of a bridle rope 10 passingalong a range of windows and coupled at the two ends to ring bolts 11secured to the walls or floors, the hook 9 being fastened to this bridlerope 10 when the apparatus is in use. Instead of a bridle wire 10, afixed bar 12 secured across a window or doorway from side to side mightbe used.

The invention is a certain safeguard against a workman losing his lifeby falling from a great height. For instance a window cleaner or painterapplies the belt 1 to his body with the straps 6 lying over hisshoulders, and the upper edge of the belt 1 coming under the arm-pits soas to distribute the pulling strain of the rope 5. When standing forinstance on a window sill, he fastens the hook 9 to the bridle wire 10or to the bar 12 or other fixed object. In the event of the workmanslipping and falling, he is at once caught up by the rope 5, the pullingstrain on the rope instantly bringing the two ends of the belt 1 towardsone another and ti htening the belt round the body, and holding himabsolutely securely in a suspended and erect position with head upwardsand feet below, the rope being made of such a length that there is onlya drop of a foot or so, or even less. The greater the weight of theworkman the more tightly will the safety belt be gripped round his body.In the case of a workman standing on ladder, he would fasten the hook toa rung or a side bar, so that if he slipped the belt would at oncetighten itself. round his body and hold him suspended.

are spaced apart, a rope OIYllIlB passed.

The invention can be usedby'men engaged in the dangerous occupation ofdelivering" orreceiving goods-that are. being lowered from or deliveredto warehouse doorways at considerable altitude from the street, also bysteeple jacks when climbing. hen the pulling strain on the rope 5 isrelaxed, the

tightness of the belt round the body will be slackened, so that a mancan work or move about with full freedom and with full powers ofrespiration. Hence the belt 1 can be worn permanently under the coatwith the rope 5 wound round his waist, as he goes from one job to thenext.

The safety belt can be made of cotton canvas, doubly sewn with strongsail twine. It can be worn as shown in the drawing with the ropeconnected behind, or the belt can be reversed .so that the ropeattachment is in front. Instead of the rope 5 wire, chain or leatherstrapping may be used.-

The belt'when in use supports the work-- man at the strongest part ofthe body namely across the chest and back, and not round thewaist, andconsequently he. can be held suspended without injury and withoutstraining himself.

I declare that what I claim is 1. A safety device for catching fallingworkmen, comprising in combination a wide bodybelt folded over at itsrespective ends so as to reinforce and strengthen it, eyelets in thecenter of said reinforced ends,

shoulder straps secured to the belt, said shoulder straps being of suchlength as to position the upper edge of the belt immediately beneath thearmpits of the wearer, said belt being of such length that its endsthrough the eyelets and provided with a deadeye through which the lineis looped so as to form a noose which draws the ends of the belt closertogether when a pulling strain is applied, and means at the other end ofthe rope or line for attachment to a fixed object. i i

2. A safety device for catching falling workmen, comprising incombination a wide body belt folded overat its respective ends so as toreinforce and strengthen it, eyelets in the center of said reinforcedends, shoulder straps secured to said belt, said shoulder straps beingofsuch length as" to position the upper edge of the belt immediatelybeneath the arm pits of the wearer, said belt being of such length thatits ends are spaced apart, a rope or line passed through the eyelets andprovided with a dead-eye through which the line is looped to form arunning noose, a snap-hook attachment at the other end of said line,ring-bolts spaced apartand secured to a building, and a bridle ropecoupled at its two ends to these ring-bolts so.

asto form a means to Which said snap-hook can be fastened. V 7 p r Inwitness whereof, I have hereunto'signed my name this 16day of March1920, in the presence of twofsubscribing witnesses.

Witnesses;

J. MoLAoHLAN, DoRoTHY-GRAr.

PERCY JOHN GILL. i

